Parody is easy. Funny parody is hard. Made on a frayed shoestring,
"The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra" is an effective, borderline-uproarious
spoof of the sci-fi and horror B-movies of the 1950s, and a
self-conscious tribute to the acting and production values of that
era's cheesiest films. Ed Wood's unintentionally hilarious "Plan 9
from Outer Space" is just one of the relics that influenced this
send-up by writer/director Larry Blamire. In the patently ridiculous
"Cadavra," a noble scientist (Blamire) and his airheaded
fiancée (Fay Masterson) have a woodland encounter with a
supernatural, ambulatory skeleton that's bent on world domination
(and moves via very visible wires), a cackling lunatic (Brian Howe)
who facilitates the skeleton's resurrection, a sexy, gyrating beatnik
girl (Jennifer Blaire) created out of forest creatures exposed to the
rare element "atmospherium," a naïve alien couple (Andrew Parks,
Susan McConnell) who crash-landed their spaceship on Earth, and a
"deadly" foam-rubber mutant set loose by the crash. Although the film
loses momentum, its first hour is laugh-out-loud material, especially
for anyone familiar with the genres being lampooned. The skewering is
accurate, and, despite some moments when the performers stop just
short of winking at the audience, the terrible, over-exaggerated
acting is dead-on.